Sniff, Scrape, Crawl (Thematic Project)

'Sniff, Scrape, Crawl…
Trimester 2, Jan.-March 2011
Thematic Project Tutors: Aymeric Mansoux, Michael Murtaugh, Renee Turner

Our society is one not of spectacle, but of surveillance…
Michel Foucault, Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison, trans. Alan Sheridan (New York, 1979), p. 217

We are living in an age of unprecedented surveillance. But unlike the ominous specter of Orwell’s Big Brother, where power is clearly defined and always palpable, today’s methods of information gathering are much more subtle and woven into the fabric of our everyday life. Through the use of seemingly innocuous algorithms Amazon tells us which books we might like, our trusted browser tracks our searches and Last.fm connects us with people who have similar tastes in music. Immersed in social media, we commit to legally binding contracts by agreeing to ‘terms of use’. Having made the pact, we Twitter our subjective realities in less than 140 characters, wish dear friends happy birthday on facebook and mobile-upload our geotagged videos on youtube.

Where once surveillance technologies belonged to governmental agencies, the web has added another less optically-driven means of both monitoring and monetizing our lived experiences. As the line between public and private has become more blurred and the desire for convenience ever greater, our personal data has become a prized commodity upon which industries thrive. Perversely, we have become consumers who simultaneously produce the product through our own consumption.

Sniff, Scrape, Crawl… is a thematic project examining how surveillance and data-mining technologies shape and influence our lives, and what consequences they have on our civil liberties. We will look at the complexities of sharing information in exchange for waiving privacy rights. Next to this, we will look at how our fundamental understanding of private life has changed as public display has become more pervasive through social networks. Bringing together practical exercises, theoretical readings and a series of guest lectures, Sniff, Scrape, Crawl… will attempt to map the data trails we leave behind and look critically at the buoyant industries that track and commodify our personal information.

References: Michel Foucault, Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison, trans. Alan Sheridan (New York, 1979) Wendy Hui Kyong Chun, Control and Freedom: power and paranoia in the age of fiber optics, (London, 2006)

Note: This Thematic Project will be organized and taught by Aymeric Mansoux, Michael Murtaugh, Renee Turner and will involve a series of related guest lectures and presentations.